Vegetarian Dolma Recipe

Vine leaves:

1. Carefully, unroll the vine leaves if they are rolled in a small bundle together.
2. Bring a large pot of water to a boil. Add the vine leaves and simmer gently for about 3 or 4 minutes. Drain well and leave until cool enough to handle.

Filling:

1. In the meantime boil some water in a kettle. Place the rice in a heatproof bowl large enough to hold all the filling ingredients. Pour the boiling water over the rice and let stand for about 5 minutes. Drain well. Return the rice to the bowl.
2. Remove the stems from the herbs, make sure you have sufficient leaves for the filling (about 20g/ 0.7 oz fresh leaves from each bundle), and chop the herbs very finely. Chop the onion very finely as well.
3. Add the herbs and the onion to the rice. Add the ricotta and well-crumbled feta. Stir well until the mixture is creamy.
4. Spice the filling generously with chili flakes or cayenne pepper to taste and salt and pepper. Taste the filling and make sure it is well seasoned.

Rolls:

1. Place a vine leaf on the working surface. Add about 2 teaspoons of the ricotta filling (depending on the size of your leaf) in the middle-lower part of the leaf.
2. Fold the left and right sides of the leaf over the filling, then form a roll, starting to roll at the base of the parcel.
3. Place the roll with the seam facing down in a small cooking pot. Repeat until you have used all the filling, arranging the rolls nicely and tightly in the pot.
4. Heat the stock and pour it over the rolls, they should be barely covered with liquid.
5. Cover well, bring to a boil, then lower the heat and simmer for 1 hour. Check to see if the rice is soft, if not, continue cooking for 5 -10 minutes longer or until the rice is soft.